East Java councillors clash

East Java councillors clash

Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

Two councillors from the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) were involved in a clash on Wednesday,
adding to the already tarnished image of the East Java provincial
legislative council.

Zainal Abidin and Adhikara from the second largest faction in
the council hurled glasses at each other and traded verbal
attacks. No injuries were reported in the quarrel.

The clash occurred just two days after three members of the
district legislative council in Mojokerto, 40 kilometers from
Surabaya, were involved in a brawl inside the council's building.

The three, Anas Ma'ruf, Sutarno and Adi Santoso -- also
members of the council's PDI Perjuangan faction, used sharp
weapons in the quarrel. Sutarno sustained stab wounds in the
neck.

Local police are investigating the case.

Zainal and Adhikara clashed shortly after attending a meeting
of the council's commission D dealing with development affairs.
The meeting discussed the plan to develop the province's southern
highway.

It was unclear what triggered the incident.

Provincial councillors in East Java have come under fire from
the public following their plan to make an overseas trip to
several European countries.

Edy Wahyudi of Commission E from Golkar Party, who was still
inside the room when the scuffle occurred, said Zainal and
Adhikara were apparently involved in a "personal dispute".

The two flexed muscles when most legislators had dispersed
from the meeting, according to Edy.

"I don't know what prompted the two men to engage in combat,"
he told The Jakarta Post.

When journalists entered the room to cover the incident, the
clash had just about come to an end, though the rival councillors
appeared pretty vexed when leaving the room.

Witnesses said the two PDI Perjuangan members had traded
verbal abuses and thrown glasses to the floor.

Edy said the clash stopped after he and other councillors
pulled Adhikara out of the meeting room.

Arif Junaedy of the National Awakening Party (PKB) confirmed
the clash was sparked by a personal dispute and had nothing to do
with the council's affairs.

Abidin, speaking to journalists after the clash, declined to
reveal the cause of the scuffle. "It's normal, there was nothing
extraordinary about it," he said.

The incident sparked uproar in the council's lobby building as
local security guards tried to intervene.